Its About The Journey PV Dealla Prince Closed

Still somewhat gasping for breath, the lad straightened and wiped a stray tear from his eye. His cheeks were rosie and his dimples sank into his cheeks as he caught his breath.

"I wasno laughing at ya, I was tryna ta imagine my own Mum and Da listenin ta me tell a story bout gettin caught in a disappearin' stair. Aye! I'd be in more trouble then tha time I used my Da's letter-sealin' wax as a crayon an drew all over tha walls. Ya'know, I even tried ta blame Laylen even tho we was only two at tha time,"Blake exhaled, a few chuckles escaping him as he shook himself firmly. an easy smile replaced the wide grin and he set off after Dee again.

"Well if all it takes is ya findin a secret room with me here ta get an honorable mention, why no just look fur a secret room insteada fungus?"he offered boldly, liking the idea of his name being spread about in a positive light. He had seen images of his Da in the wizard paper enough times to know that he too wanted a slice of the limelight. His Mum didn't care for it and usually fussed about being in the local paper when her picture was taken for the gardening column but it had been clear from a young age that Blake did not share in her shy nature. He had been a very loud and rambunctious lad for the first few years before-
Blake quickly shook his head to clear that train of thought. He didn't like to dwell on the past, especially when he hardly even understood what had happened. He realized his smile had fallen away and he had zoned out when he realized Dee was talking. Fixing a complacent grin back on his face, he took in the surroundings of the new corridor they have entered. This was was a tad narrow and the torches were placed high on the walls but the heat, more compressed in the small corridor, did little to warm the icy stone.

"Are we gettin any closer Dealla?"he asked curiously, tilting his head slightly to avoid the pool of the light thrown by one of the torches as he passed. His eyes, now adjusted to the faint gloom of the inner castle, did not appreciate the blinding light every few feet but Blake remained intrigued and did not complain.

@Dealla Prince

Dealla tried, really tried, to keep her composure, but in the end, she couldn't help laughing along with Blake, her laughter chiming high and clear and echoing back from the walls. "Really - you would be in trouble?" she asked, still giggling while she watched Blake trying to catch his breath. "My parents would probably tell me it served me right for not paying attention to where I'm going! Actually, I'm very sure of this. I used to always run around with the Muggle children in our neighborhood, and came back with various scrapes and bruises more often than not." Some of the boys had liked to play rough, and she'd always been determined not to fall behind, so she had borne the scars of it. "I'd imagine their reactions to be very similar in this case. They considered the pain to be punishment enough though, so there was no additional trouble, thankfully." She grinned, not bothered by this at all. "Having siblings around to blame sounds so convenient! It was never a question who was responsible around my home. Although you could maybe have made a smarter choice in that situation. How much younger is your brother?"

Dee paused for a second, frowning at the next intersection. Why did everything around here have to look similar? They should be getting closer to their destination, but she felt like she either had seen this intersection several times already - or never at all. Both were possible, really.
"I appreciate your enthusiasm, but how about we save the secret room for next time?" she suggested in return, a teasing note in her voice. "Except if you are willing to skip dinner, of course. Also, how would you even go about finding a secret room? On purpose, I mean, excluding accidentally falling into one through vanishing floors, or something. Of course, if we could find that draft again, that might give us a clue..."
In that moment, she finally - finally - spotted definitive proof that they were going in the right direction. The lower corridor with the ridiculous amount of burning torches on the wall - this whole section of the castle seemed very sparingly used, and none of the adjourning hallways had that many torches lit, only one every few meters, just enough to be able to see - was something she had wondered about the last time she'd been here, as well. Maybe some house-elf really liked this hallway.
Dealla let out a quiet sigh of relief when they turned into it, her steps becoming faster and more confident where they had been faltering before. Her eyes were already focused on the next corner, where they would have to turn right. "We are!" she confirmed Blake's question excitedly. "I'm very sure we are close, it shouldn't take us much longer. But," she turned to glare at him, only half-joking, "I told you to call me Dee, didn't I?"

@Blake Bayne

Blake shook his head in amazement at the idea of not getting in trouble for an adventure.
"I'd be up ta my ears in trouble! I think it's because I'm supposed ta be a role model for Laylen so anythin I do, he does. When I do somthin' they've told me I canno' do an I do it, I have ta get in trouble so Laylen knows he canno do whatever he wants either,"Blake explained with a half-hearted shrug. This to him seemed like the likeliest reason since his Da was never against him trying new things, he actually encouraged it, and his Mum thought any time he was learning something positive it was time well spent. But telling a wild tale about getting caught in a vanishing stair would probably result in Laylen attempting to find such stairs on the family staircase he would probably end up hurt. Things always seemed to have a perfectly reasonable explanation.
"When I went round with tha muggle boys, we got inta all kinda mischief like throwing rocks at targets or rough housin' bu no one ever said anything because we weren't actually hurtin anyone. My Da even took us campin an let us sleep under tha stars one night," He went on, feeling the need to make his situation sound less boring and controlled. He was usually aloud a great deal of freedom as long as his brother wasn't around to potentially follow his brother into dangerous situations.
"Oh aye, Laylen is eight now so he's still a tad too young for climbin the big trees round our wood thicket. He follows me every where which is why I also follow tha rules of an eight year old,"Blake went on contently. Although it didn't bother him now, he hoped it wouldn't last for much longer. He wanted to be able to visit his wizard friends and go on his own adventures without his brother one day. When Laylen started at Hogwarts it would be easier because he would make his own friends and leave Blake be with his friends as well.
Blake's stomach rumbled slightly giving its answer to the idea of missing dinner and Blake blushed.
I don't think skippin a meal is an option for me. I ate verra quickly at lunch because I was sittin alone an wanted ta leave the Great Hall faster instead of sittin alone," He explained with a complacent smile. Making friends was a slow process but Blake was patient. He had been waiting his whole life to make wizarding friends who weren't his cousins or siblings and wasn't about to give up on the idea now. He perked up at the idea of finally finding this elusive fungus he had journeyed all this way to inspect.
"Ya did tell me ta call ya Dee bu I wasna sure if that was a one-time deal or not,"he explained, chuckling at the look tossed at him over her shoulder.
"We should take some of tha fungus back to the common room an take it to Herbology! Maybe we'd get a few house points,"He offered hopefully as the thought came to mind.

@Dealla Prince

Dee giggled delightedly at Blake's explanation. "Well, in that case, I think I changed my mind, I prefer to not have siblings. I would rather not have to be a role model, it sounds tedious." She considered the rest of Blake's stories. Maybe they had more in common than she'd thought? He came from a huge family, had siblings he obviously adored, and she would bet he'd grown up close with his grandparents, while all the family she had ever had were her parents. She hadn't even met her father's parents, not once. Not that she minded - she preferred it this way. With the way they had treated her mother, she wanted nothing to do with them. But since her mother's parents also lived in London, she had also hardly ever met them. She didn't mind all that much - she had never known any different, after all - but Blake's stories made her wonder what it would have been like to grow up in a bigger family, in one that welcomed her and her mother.
But despite all their differences, apparently they both had grown up with mostly Muggle friends. It didn't sound like Blake had known many wizards outside of his family, and neither had Dealla.
"I mean, I already said I always ran around with the Muggle kids in my neighbourhood, too, so maybe it wasn't so different for us?" She shrugged, and considered. "With all of them, in the beginning, but later the boys suddenly didn't want to play with the girls anymore, or the other way around. But the boys never seemed to mind me tagging along, although maybe I just didn't give them much of a choice." She grinned impishly. "They always seemed to have more fun than the girls, anyway. We never had a camping trip under the stars, though, that sounds amazing! Did your brother come along, too?" She made a face. "Eight is so young! Wasn't it boring having to hang out with him?"
Dee skipped restlessly from one leg to the other as they moved down yet another corridor. In this one, the torches burnt in a cool, very light blue colour. This too, she remembered. They were getting close! Good thing, too, if Blake didn't want to skip dinner. She grinned at him. "Another mystery for another day, then." In her mind, it was already clear and agreed that this wouldn't be the last research trip they made together. Sealed deal. They made a good team.
When they finally - finally! - reached the last turn, she spun around to stand in front of Blake, hands placed on her hips emphatically. "It is not a one-time deal," she stressed. "My name is terrible at all and any times." Dee shuddered. "So keep that in mind, or my revenge will be terrifying!" She dropped her hands and grinned. "Anyway, it should be right around the corner, and then you can earn the title of Fungus Master. If not, we can still take it back to Professor MacTavish, right?"

@Blake Bayne

"Aye, eight is young so it can be a bit irritating bu he's a good kid. I like havin him around when we're aloud inta town,"Blake shrugged, not wanting to sound ungrateful for his younger sibling. Despite normal sibling rivalry and competition, the two had an incredibly close bond Blake wouldn't trade for anything. Not even a passing grade in Transfiguration.

"I think its hard ta explain what havin siblings is like because I've only ever what things are like with em. I wonder what bein an only child is like but I canno picture it,"he shook his head slightly, his mind drawing a blank when he attempting to conjure images of a life without Maggie or Laylen. He shuddered.

"My Mum and Da try to spend time with everyone one-on-one as well as a family so we're always cared fur. Laylen didna come on that camping trip with me bu he went hiking with dad the weekend after an came home with the coolest lookin bird skull I'd ever seen! Maggie an my Da like ta share tea in his study when she's home an talk about school and then my Mum usually cooks meals and gardens with us kids respectivly or reads Laylen stories sometimes when my Da and I have a campfire and talk about his family and my responsibility to the family as a Pure-Blood,"Blake went on casually, not pausing to dwell too long on the fine details of his family. That was one thing his Nan had cautioned him not to do since you never truly knew who you were talking to.

The idea of a separate adventure made Blake grin. Adventuring was always more fun with a friend!
"Tha draft's days are numbered because we're gonna figure out were it's comin from once we find this fungus for Mr. McTavish. Aye, he'll know what it is no matter what and can correct me if I'm wrong,"Blake chuckled, liking the idea of presenting the well-mannered Herbology teacher with the specimen. It would be even better if Blake's hypothesis about the fungus were correct, that could maybe earn house points!

"Alright Dee, since I don't want to have your revenge hangin over me, I willna call you Dealla anymore until ya tell me to. It's safer for the masses that way,"Blake joked lightly, following the edger girl with long, purposeful strides. With the fungus growing closer and excitement rising, Bake felt himself becoming fidgety and knotting his fingers around the hem of his cloak as the last corner approached.

@Dealla Prince

Dee mulled his comment over for a second, and then started wondering how she would describe not having siblings, and came up empty. "I guess it's hard to describe something when you don't know how it feels when it's different?" She shrugged. "I don't know. I never missed siblings, because I never had them. That's just the way it is."
But, she had always liked her parents' attention being mostly on her. She know other only children sometimes wished to have a sibling, a younger one or even an older one, which made no sense in Dee's opinion - even if their parents got another child, it would be younger, so wishing for an older sibling was just stupid. She had told that to one of the girls in her group at one point, when the girl had talked about wanting an older brother to protect her. The conversation had not gone very well from that point, but Dee stood by what she had said. Also, why want a brother to defend you when you could just defend yourself?

She made a face at the mention of pure-blood responsibilities, however. "My dad's a pure-blood," she said matter-of-factly, and not really thinking about whether it might offend Blake, "and he didn't want any of that responsibility nonsense, because it would have meant not being with my mum. It's stupid, in my opinion." If there was one certain way to raise Dee's hackles, it was pure-bloods acting like they were something better, or different, just because of their family. Her parents were perfectly happy together, and her mum was amazing, and incredibly smart, and Dealla would defend her to the death without thinking twice about it.
It only occurred to her afterwards that this might make the situation awkward, after Blake had just said he was pure-blooded. She cleared her throat. He hadn't really given the impression of being a pure-blood supremacist at all so far, and he hadn't asked about her blood status, either. "Not that there's anything wrong with you," she ended lamely. "I just mean... Pure-bloods aren't any different from the rest of us."

Jumping at the opportunity to change the topic, Dee grinned at Blake's proclamation about the draft. "I'll take that as a promise!" she told him seriously. "No backing out, we're going to find that secret room."
She lengthened her strides, heading towards the small, half hidden corner in which she had spotted the fungus. The patch was still there, to her relief, and had even spread a little bit, and she still thought it looked like it was glowing a bit. Also, she still had no clue as to what it was.
"So?" she asked Blake curiously. "Any guesses, fungus guy?"